


Making New (Soft) Friends

by Suli



Series: Soft Liquorice [3]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but more on that in the future, i live for domestic jeonghoon, i spent way too long on this I WAS TIRED, jeonghan is a sweetheart, jihoon is also flustered, jihoon is sleepy and clingy, wonwoo is the head editor where jeonghan works so he's kind of his boss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 10:12:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15638622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suli/pseuds/Suli
Summary: "Why didn't you tell me before you started feeding them? This is going to be a process..."





	Making New (Soft) Friends

"I was having a perfectly good dream," grumbled Jeonghan to himself as he stared at the ceiling of their bedroom.

 

The incessant, raucous blaring of the small, innocent looking alarm clock had shocked him out of his peaceful sleep. The shrill, high pitched sounds were grating but highly effective at getting him out of bed on a Monday morning. After reaching over quickly to silence the clock before the beeping woke Jihoon, Jeonghan slowly and reluctantly uncovered his face from the giant, fluffy duvet. He blinked slowly and lazily, eyes adjusting to the morning light trickling through the curtains. For a few, blissful moments, he soaked in the warmth of the covers, smiling at Jihoon's sleeping form, thinking he could stay there in bed all day.

But it was a Monday morning, and Jeonghan had work to do. Slowly and carefully, he sat up, dragging his feet off the bed and rubbing his knuckles against his eyes. Stretching his arms above his head, he yawned. After staring at his dangling feet, which were a few centimeters from the light laminate flooring, Jeonghan pushed himself off the bed, certain that if he stayed there for just a few seconds more he wouldn't leave.

 

Slightly more awake after a quick shower, Jeonghan got changed, very aware that he didn't have much time to waste before he had to be sitting at his desk in his office. Not forgetting to plant a sweet kiss on Jihoon's temple, Jeonghan trudged his way to the kitchen, where he was greeted by the second love of his life.

Liquorice immediately ran to him the second he stepped foot into the living room, circling around his legs before balancing on her hind legs to paw at Jeonghan's trousers.

"Good morning Liquorice," cooed Jeonghan, crouching down to scratch behind her whiskers. "Are you hungry baby? Hannie is. Do you want to eat breakfast with Hannie?"

 

Liquorice meowed in response but didn't run to the kitchen like Jeonghan expected her to. Instead, she trotted towards the sliding doors to the balcony. Curiosity piqued, Jeonghan followed her, the squeeze to get behind their cream-colored sofa tight but manageable.

('Added to the checklist,' thought Jeonghan as he squeezed uncomfortably into the small space, 'Move this damn sofa.')

All it took was a simple look down to meet a pair of bright green eyes. The small feline was sitting and looking at Jeonghan in such a way that they looked as though they could be Liquorice's mirror image, despite the stark difference in appearance between the two. The cat's fur was black and white, scruffy and a little dirty. They couldn't have been older than Liquorice. In fact, they looked at least a month younger than the four-month-old tortie.

 

And Jeonghan couldn't help but melt because _Liquorice made a friend._

 

"Well hello there," said Jeonghan softly, doing the best he could to crouch down in the tight space. "How did you manage to get all the way up here, hm?"

 

Squeezing himself out of the cramped space, Jeonghan walked briskly to the kitchen, munching on some toast as he poured Liquorice her breakfast in her favorite yellow bowl. As she ate, Jeonghan looked at the small, skinny kitten on the balcony, and his heart wrenched.

He _had_ to feed the poor little creature.

When he first opened the sliding door, the kitten ran to the far side of the balcony, hiding behind a potted plant. Their green eyes were wide, watching Jeonghan's every movement attentively. Feeling as though the kitten would refuse to let him go near them, Jeonghan put the bowl of food directly across from where they were hiding, and simply watched from behind the glass.

 

Jeonghan went to work smiling from ear to ear that morning, heart singing after the small kitten had meowed appreciatively at him as they munched happily on their breakfast.

 

Greeting the stray kitten quickly became part of Jeonghan's morning routine, and a part he really, really looked forward to. His week became brighter despite the pressure work put on him; the grateful meow every morning (and even some nights) never failing to bring a smile to his face. By the end of the week, the kitten looked so much healthier: their eyes brighter, movements more energetic, and bones less visible.

 

Before he knew it, it was Friday, and Jeonghan had never been more excited to go to work and come back to spend time with Jihoon and Liquorice. Having fed the kitties, he was halfway through making himself some breakfast (of course leaving a serving for Jihoon) when he felt a pair of arms wrap lazily around his torso, a head nuzzling between his shoulder blades.

"Good morning Jihoonie," said Jeonghan sweetly, turning for a second to smile at his sleepy boyfriend. Shivers ran up and down his spine as Jihoon placed a tired kiss on the crook of his neck. "How come you're up so early?"

"Wanted to see you before you left. Goodbye kisses aren't always enough y'know," mumbled Jihoon, voice thick with sleep yet dripping with adoration.

Smiling radiantly, Jeonghan twisted around to kiss his boyfriend, Jihoon sighing happily into it.

 

They stayed that way for a few minutes, Jihoon resting his cheek against Jeonghan's back as the elder finished up their breakfast. Turning his head, he frowned, realizing why the apartment was just a little colder than it usually was.

"Hannie?" started Jihoon, Jeonghan humming in response. "Why is the sliding door open?"

"Hmm?" inquired Jeonghan, turning to see that the sliding door was indeed open _just_ a crack. "Oh, I must have forgotten to close it. Can you get it for me while I finish this?"

 

It took all but two seconds for Jihoon to freeze, quickly closing the sliding door before squeezing himself behind the sofa.

"Hannie?" he started again. "Follow up question."

"Yeah?" responded Jeonghan, moving their eggs from the hot frying pan to some plates.

"Why is Liquorice playing with a strange – but very cute – kitten?"

 

Jeonghan froze before panicking _ever so slightly_. He joined Jihoon behind the sofa (with great difficulty) and affirmed that Liquorice was, in fact, playing with the no longer timid tuxedo kitten. Scratching the back of his head, he abashedly explained to Jihoon how he had been feeding the kitten all week.

"They looked so skinny Hoonie. I didn't want them to starve..."

"It's okay Hannie," reassured Jihoon, reaching out a hand for the stray kitten to smell (and then promptly nuzzle).

"I never thought they'd get brave enough to actually come into the apartment. They'd always hide behind the plants."

"You know what this means, right?"

"What?"

 

Jihoon sighed happily as the kitten nudged his hand with the top of their head, prompting him to scratch behind their ears.

"It means, my love, that this cat has adopted us."

"Okay... What does that mean?"

"It means that they've kind of started claiming our apartment as their territory. This is somewhere they're comfortable."

"That... That's kind of adorable," whispered Jeonghan, lips curling up into a small smile.

"It is," started Jihoon, shoulders slumping with a heavy sigh, "But why didn’t you tell me before you started feeding them?"

"You were asleep," mumbled Jeonghan, lips forming a pout (that Jihoon couldn't help but kiss).

 

"This is gonna be a process," sighed Jihoon before giggling at the two cats who were play fighting over Liquorice's half-full bowl of food. "I'm surprised Liquorice is okay with them being here though."

Jeonghan laughed fondly as he remembered Liquorice guiding him enthusiastically to the kitten at the very start of that week. "The two of them are friends. It's precious."

Jihoon gave a blinding smile as he moved from sitting on his knees to a crouched position.

"Okay, I think I'm gonna take them to the shelter now. They look healthy, but it doesn't hurt to check. Aren't you running late?"

"It's Friday and my work’s pretty light today. Wonwoo won't mind me being a little late."

"Then please keep an eye on the two of them while I get changed. And give them some food before they steal the rest of Liquorice's."

"What do you wanna call them?" asked Jeonghan before Jihoon stood, eyes shining with anticipation.

"Rocket," replied Jihoon, Jeonghan's heart melting, "Because they're a sneaky, sly troublemaker."

 

Jihoon gave them a little scratch above the nose, and Rocket meowed happily, their purring loud enough to rival Liquorice's infamous motor.

 

////

 

"Jihoonie!" sang Jeonghan's voice the next Tuesday, echoing loudly through the shelter. Jihoon had never been more relived that there were no visitors at that time.

"What are you doing here?" asked Jihoon, happy to see his boyfriend but confused as to why he wasn't at work.

"It's my lunch hour and I wanted to see you," pouted Jeonghan, leaning down to give his boyfriend a long, sweet kiss. "How's Rocket doing?"

"He's doing well!" beamed Jihoon. "He's surprisingly healthy for a stray so he just needs to take some vitamins for a little while."

"I hope he gets adopted soon," sighed Jeonghan.

"Me too. Anyway, you wanna explain why you brought Liquorice here with you?"

"Because, my beautiful, hard-working love of my life, I sweet Liquorice here wants to play with her friend. She misses him."

 

There was no way Jihoon could ever say no to that. Especially not after Jeonghan turned him into a flustered, blushing mess.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm having so much fun with this series guys it just makes me so happy ;;  
> here is a spotify playlist to listen to while you read this series !! (i keep trying to embed a link but IT DOESN'T WORK I'LL LEARN HOW SOON UNTIL THEN BEAR WITH ME): https://open.spotify.com/user/dguku1v8r4abwmt7wt0koy9ix/playlist/1LDeYklLGnnNk22bl8qfDx  
> thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed!!!


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